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Batman The Animated Series-Batman At His Best
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Batman Image from The Animated Series
In Batman's 70 year history, Batman: The Animated Series will go down in the annals as one of the definitive contributions to the character and his history.
Although the series lasted for only 3 seasons (from 1992-1995), it was later retooled as The New Batman Adventures (1997-1999). The series was modeled after Tim Burton's Batman movies, and borrowed much of the art designs of the movies from Anton First, and the musical undertones and scores from the movies, which were written by Danny Elfman. Another major influence were the Max Fleischer Superman theatrical cartoons of the 1940's. The series was a combination of super hero and 40's film noir movies all rolled into one, reflecting such films as the Naked City or just about any film with actor Robert Mitchum in his heyday. This groundbreaking approach geared this series to be more adult-oriented, suited to appealing to the comic book crowd, who are typically in their 20's and 30's.
The animated series was also one of the few TV cartoon series at the time to feature celebrity voice artists and character actors, such as Paul Williams, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Bob Hastings, Adrienne Barbeau, Roddy McDowall, David Warner, Michael Ansara, and Kevin Conroy as The Bat-Man.
The series' producers Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, and Alan Burnett all had the same commitment of excellence in mind for the show— wanting to push the boundaries of what a "kids" cartoon series could be. Batman:TAS did not dilute the comic book material, but instead painted rich tapestries in character development, stories and plots. For that, the series gained praise from comic fans and creators alike, as well as TV critics. The series garnered such prestige that it even influenced some elements in the post Burton Batman films, and even added a few new characters to the DC comics universe, such as the Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn, Detective Renee Montoya, and the vigilante Lock-Up.
The series had 2 spin-off movies, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) which was released in theaters and Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero (1998) which went straight to home video/DVD release.
Batman:TAS surley cemented the character in the minds of a new generation, and for generations to come.
Batman: The Complete Animated series is available on DVD.
Who was the best Joker?
A) Cesar Romero
B) Jack Nicholson
c) Mark Hamill
D) Heath Ledger
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